Sometimes, rants can let loose horcruxes
by Harrison Black Peverall
Summary: It is Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts and he is frustrated by Dumbledore's refusal to meet his eyes. What if Harry goes to Dumbledore's office to confront the headmaster about it? How does this action of Harry's change the enormous secret plans made by Albus Dumbledore ? How does this meeting change the entire course of Harry's life & make him powerful? Harry/Daphne. Good Dumbledore
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and I don't intend to earn any profit out of this story.**

 **Author's Note: This fan-fiction story starts at the middle of Harry's 5** **th** **year, after his detention with Umbridge. What if Harry had confronted Dumbledore about the older wizard's refusal to meet his eyes? This will be a smart, intelligent, eventually powerful and grey Harry. There might be mild bashing of some characters but I will do my best to minimize it. This story will be an Alternate Universe(AU) story with major divergence from canon. Right now, I am not sure whether to go with a single Harry or a partnered one. I will decide that once the story progresses. And, while I have enjoyed many Harem stories, I am sorry to say that this won't be one.**

It was Friday evening. Harry was returning from his last detention with Umbridge. She had given him a week's worth of detentions, simply because he spoke the truth about Voldemort's return. His hand was bleeding badly because of that quill which she made him use. He had to write the lines "I must not tell lies" with that quill for nearly 4 hours all the while enduring the sickly smile on that woman's face. Slowly, he picked up a bottle of "Essence of murtlap" from his pocket, and applied it on his bleeding hand. Immediately, he felt a soothing sensation on that area where the bleeding was concentrated.

As soon as he felt better, instead of walking back towards his dormitory, he started walking towards the headmaster's office. This year, things had gone quite bad enough for him. This was the worst year for him ever since he stepped foot at Hogwarts. He had tolerated Umbridge for quite long. He wanted some answers and it was finally time to set aside his ego and pay the headmaster a visit.

As soon as Harry reached outside the headmaster's office, he heard a voice "Enter"

Harry entered the office. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk looking at a pice of parchment in his hand. The portraits of the previous headmasters and headmistresses were pretending to sleep and Fawkes was sitting majestically in his perch.

"Hello Fawkes" said Harry warmly.

Fawkes gave a welcoming trill in response which soothed his nerves.

"Harry, to what reason do I owe this late night visit?" said Dumbledore, looking down at his parchment.

Harry felt a spark of irritation when Dumbledore refused to meet his eyes.

"Sir, there are many things that I wanted to ask you, and they are very important for me" said Harry firmly

"I understand your curiosity but I am afraid you have to wait Harry. This is not the right time for that. Perhaps, it would be better if you went back to your dorms. After all, it is quite late now and the curfew is about to start in a few minutes" said Dumbledore dismissively still not meeting his gaze.

Harry grew furious on hearing Dumbledore's words.

"No Sir, this cannot wait any longer. I am tired of you ignoring me and avoiding my gaze. I don't understand why you are doing this. You had no problem in looking at me for the past 4 years. Is it because you think that I am being possessed by Voldemort? Because I assure you sir, that I am not. During Christmas, my friends had convinced me that there is no way that Voldemort could have possessed me. Do you think otherwise?" asked Harry with a bit of heat.

Dumbledore rubbed his temples tiredly and spoke calmly "I assure you Harry that you will get to know my reasons very soon. As soon as you master your Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape, I will have a long discussion with you. Until then, you have to wait patiently" said Dumbledore still refusing to meet his gaze.

Harry grew angrier on hearing his hated professor's name.

"Snape? I have not learnt anything worthwhile from him for the past 2 months. All that he tells me is to close my mind, but I don't understand how. And why should I stop these visions from coming? Didn't my vision that night save Mr Weasley's life? Can't we use those visions to find out Voldemort's current and future plans?" asked Harry.

"First of all, call him Professor Snape Harry. And Harry, it is imperative that you stop seeing further visions from Voldemort, because there is a high probability that he could lure you with a false vision and lay a trap for you" said Dumbledore sternly.

"I have seen no evidence of that yet Sir. Sir, I don't like the fact that you are probably keeping a lot of secrets from me, many of which involve me heavily. I am tired of all your riddles and pseudo wisdom. Snape's occlumency classes are useless and I will not be attending them anymore and there is nothing that you can do about it without attracting ministry's attention" said Harry defiantly before turning back. He started walking back when Dumbledore suddenly shouted his name.

"Mr Potter, you must attend those occlumency lessons with Professor Snape" shouted Dumbledore angrily. Harry turned back to see that Dumbledore was finally looking at him, albeit angrily. Dumbledore's expression was abnormally furious, and there was no twinkle in his eyes. He was no longer the odd eccentric headmaster, but the defeater of Grindelwald and the only person that Voldemort ever feared.

But at that instant, Harry's scar gave a sudden surge at pain and he felt irrationally angry at Dumbledore. A voice inside him was telling him to kill Dumbledore after making him suffer endless pain, and he was vaguely tempted to do exactly that. It seemed as if Dumbledore too knew about the voice inside Harry's head as the older wizard readied himself in a combative position.

"Fight your inner demon Harry or else I am afraid, I will be forced to hurt you" said Dumbledore sternly

Before anything else happened, Fawkes flew to Harry, sat on Harry's shoulder and began to trill a melodious tune that was immensely soothing to both wizards in the room. Harry got some inner strength to say no to that voice. As Fawkes looked into Harry's eyes, a series of images began appearing in Harry's mind showing earlier memories of his Mom and Dad coddling him, his Godfather hugging him and his friends interacting cheerily with him.

Fawkes's message was clear to Harry. He began concentrating on those images which Fawkes sent him, all of which showing him the love and affection that he had ever received. As Harry began to bask in the warmth of Fawkes's melodious trill and the wonderful images, he heard a distinct scream inside his head which was not his and the pain slowly started receding away.

Bolstered by this, Harry increased his efforts to banish that inner voice from his head, aided by Fawkes but the inner demon was still putting up a good fight to possess Harry. Fawkes immediately flew to the sorting hat and placed it on Dumbledore's hand all the while maintaining that soothing trill which was helping Harry to fight off the possession.

Dumbledore was left speechless at this sudden turn of events and the behavior of his familiar. He was even more appalled and dumbfounded when Fawkes looked at his eye and sent him a series of images regarding what he was supposed to do.

"Are you sure about this Fawkes?" asked Dumbledore in uncertainty. It was a big risk that he was about to take now which could endanger Harry's life.

Fawkes gave a short trill in response, which Dumbledore meant as a Yes.

Dumbledore placed the sorting hat on his head and after a short conversation drew the shining sword of Godric Gryffindor from it.

Meanwhile, Harry had closed his eyes as he was still struggling with pain in his scar as Voldemort was still putting up a good fight to possess him from within.

Dumbledore slowly moved close to Harry with trembling hands, and taking a deep breath, placed the tip of the sword on Harry's forehead directly over his scar for 2 seconds before withdrawing it quickly.

As soon as the sword's tip made contact with the scar, an unholy scream of pain issued from the voice inside Harry's head and that pain was shared by Harry who began convulsing on the ground with pain. Dumbledore watched helplessly as he was unable to do anything to help Harry except watch tensely in anticipation.

Very soon, a black mist began pouring out of Harry's scar which briefly took the shape of Voldemort that issued a death threat to Dumbledore before disappearing into oblivion.

As soon as the black mist disappeared, Fawkes immediately went close to Harry and started crying over his scar, which had by now become a faint, barely visible line.

Fawkes's tears helped neutralize the basilisk venom which was checked from spreading further. It also completely removed Harry's fatigue.

Harry slowly stood up, his vision slightly blurred. He wasn't able to see anything properly. He removed his glasses to wipe them off, but as soon as he removed them, he could see properly.

He looked at Dumbledore who was looking at him with twinkling eyes and tears of joy. The immense relief on the face of the older wizard was quite obvious.

"Sir, what just happened now?" asked Harry confused. "I felt as if Voldemort was trying to possess me and instructing me to kill you" said Harry.

In response, Dumbledore just smiled merrily at Harry and replied "Yes Harry my boy, Voldemort did indeed try to possess you but he will never be able to do it again. And, I have so many secrets to share with you now, which I have unfortunately been unable to do so till now. But that will not be a problem any longer. The good news for you Harry, is that you will not have to take Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape again. I will inform Severus about that" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling merrily.

Harry was bewildered by Dumbledore's sudden shift. But, he was immensely glad anyway that he wouldn't have to continue those occlumency lessons. They were a complete fiasco.

"Please have a seat Harry. We have so many things to discuss" said Dumbledore as he beckoned Harry to his seat.

 **Author's Note: That ends the first chapter. I hope it was satisfactory.**


	2. Meeting an odd Slytherin

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and I don't intend to earn any monetary profit out of it.**

 **Note: I have made Daphne one year older to Harry in this story.**

Harry took a seat, completely shocked by what just happened now. But the most surprising thing was that, after that black liquid had oozed out of his scar, his head felt oddly clear and he felt as if a great weight had somehow been lifted off from him. Then, he noticed that everything around him seemed blurry to him.

"Sir, I am not able to see everything clearly" said Harry in a confused voice.

"Oh, is that so Harry?" asked Dumbledore intrigued.

"Yes Sir" said Harry and then removed his spectacles to see if there was any problem with them.

But as soon as he removed his spectacles, everything came into focus, much to the shock of Harry. That shock soon turned into delight and Harry exclaimed.

"Sir, everything is visible now. I don't need spectacles anymore. How did this happen?" asked Harry in an excited voice.

In response, Dumbledore twinkled his eyes and replied "Harry my boy, it seems that the taint in your scar which maintained a connection with Voldemort has been completely destroyed. You have to thank Fawkes for that. May be, it is possible that the tainted scar was hindering your eyesight" said Dumbledore smiling warmly at his companion who trilled in response.

"Thank you Fawkes" said Harry gratefully to Fawkes and then he petted the phoenix who basked in the warmth of Harry's touch.

Then, suddenly a troubling thought came to Harry and he did not hesitate to express it.

"Sir, I am very happy that I no longer have any connection to Voldemort. I will definitely enjoy the absence of the regular pricking of my scar. But, the problem is that, I will not have any visions from Voldemort anymore. So, if anything like what happened to Mr Weasley happens to any other order member, I will not be able to warn you. Also, I don't know whether I will retain the parseltongue ability" said Harry worriedly.

"Don't worry about that Harry. I will take all steps to ensure that the order members who are involved in various missions are completely safe and sound. And regarding Parseltongue, I am afraid that you might have to accept that fact and move on" remarked Dumbledore.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, what is the secret weapon that the order is guarding in the department of mysteries?" asked Harry.

In response, Dumbledore leaned forward with a serious expression on his face and said.

"Harry, what I am about to tell you should not leave this room. Is that clear?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes Sir" replied Harry.

"Good. So Harry, the secret weapon is nothing but a prophecy that was made shortly before your birth. It was made by Sybill Trelawney and it is one of her unusually rare, genuine predictions. I will show you in the pensive" said Dumbledore before going to the cabinet and taking out the pensive.

Then, Dumbledore proceeded to extract a memory from his temple and drop it into the pensive and tapped the pensive bowl. Immediately, the face of Sybill Trelawney came into view and Harry could hear her ethereal, harsh monotones that he had heard only once during his third year.

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…"_

There was a pin drop silence in the office.

"It means me?" asked Harry in a dazed voice.

"Yes Harry, it means you" said Dumbledore in a grave voice.

For a few seconds, Harry sat silent as he contemplated on the big burden that had been thrust on him. He would either be kill Voldemort or be killed by Voldemort. At first, he felt shock and disbelief. But that shock gave rise to a firm determination and anger. When Harry thought about it, it was not altogether surprising. After all, Voldemort would never rest in peace until Harry was ultimately, one of them had to kill the other. At that moment, he decided that he would finish off Voldemort on his own terms.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and looked at Dumbledore.

"But what could be the power that I have which Voldemort does not have?" asked Harry curiously.

"I believe it is your power to love Harry. Something, which Voldemort lacks completely" said Dumbledore with conviction.

"No Sir, I don't think so. The prophecy talks about one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. I am not the only one who can love. Ron can love, Hermione can love, Sirius can love and even you can love. So, what makes me so special in that regard?" asked Harry rheoterically.

Dumbledore pondered Harry's statement thoroughly in that regard before replying.

"Love is the only probable explanation that I could think of Harry. Because, I am uncertain what power a 15 year old under-qualified wizard could have that a 70 year old experienced Dark Lord does not" remarked Dumbledore as he surveyed Harry with his deep blue eyes.

"That is the point Sir. If I have to take down a Dark Lord with so many decades of experience, I require training from you. Till now, I have survived from Voldemort only due to sheer dumb luck or due to someone else's sacrifice. I don't want anybody else to give up their life for my sake anymore. Please train me Sir. Otherwise I stand no chance" said Harry.

Dumbledore pondered over Harry's words for a minute before replying.

"Okay I will Harry. This was not actually a part of my plan. But I did not anticipate Fawkes's actions tonight. So, it would be prudent for me to start training you from now" said Dumbledore and Harry nodded in satisfaction.

Then, suddenly a doubt erupted in Harry's mind.

"Sir, was this the reason why I was targeted by Voldemort even when I was a small baby?" asked Harry.

"Yes Harry. Voldemort heard only the first part of the prophecy which mentioned about someone with the power to vanquish him born to those who defied him thrice. Actually, this incident happened while I was interviewing Sybill for the post of Divinations professor in Hogs Head. A death eater overheard part of the prophecy before he was thrown out by the barman. This deatheater then proceeded to inform Voldemort about the part of the prophecy that he had heard" said Dumbledore sadly.

Harry gritted his teeth.

"Who was that deatheater? Was he arrested?" asked Harry angrily.

"I am afraid I can't answer that Harry" said Dumbledore firmly.

"Sir, I want to know. This person was responsible for Voldemort going after my parents. Who was it?" asked Harry sternly.

"No, I will not answer that Harry. I will break someone's confidence otherwise" said Dumbledore adamantly.

Harry gritted his teeth. If Dumbledore was unwilling to answer, he would find out on his own.

"Very well, the reason why I came here was that, Sir, Umbridge is becoming intolerable. She is doing a lot of harm to me and everyone else in the school through her ridiculous educational decrees. Sir, can't you do anything about it?" asked Harry with a bit if anger.

"Harry, my hands are tied. The ministry has forced Dolores Umbridge upon me and there is unfortunately nothing that I can do about it right now. Until Voldemort declares his return publicily, I am agraid that Cornelius will not see sense" said Dumbledore sadly.

"No Sir, this will not do. If things go on like this, Voldemort will get ample time to amass his forces containing giants, werewolves, dementors and so on. We have to find out a way to bring Voldemort into the open" said Harry firmly.

"I will think about a way to do that Harry" said Dumbledore non commitantly.

"And Sir, there is one more thing that I have to show you" said Harry sad he opened his sleeves and showed the lines that Umbridge made him write using the blood quill.

Dumbledore paled on seeing this and his eyes glowed with unrestrained energy as a dangerous aura surrounded him.

"Umbridge made me write lines using the blood quill during my detentions with her. She must have made other students do this in their detentions as well" explained Harry.

Dumbledore gritted his teeth furiously.

"Madam Umbridge is really crossing the line. I am tempted to confront her right now. But If I do so, Fudge will make that as an excuse to fire me at once. If that happens, the students will be in even more trouble. We just have to wait and hope for the best" said Dumbledore sadly.

Harry was internally furious. Dumbledore was quite content to act passively but Harry was definitely not. But there was nothing that Harry could do to make Dumbledore change his mind. So, Harry took his leave to return to his dorms.

"Harry, there are some books that I would like you to have" said Dumbledore before going to his shelf and taking out three bulky books. Harry took them with surprise.

"They are advanced books on spell casting, occlumency and transfiguration. I hope you find adequate use of them. Read them well in your leisure time. We can meet next Saturday evening at 8 pm. I will teach you some advanced magics and there are some very important memories that I have to show you. Good night Harry" said Dumbledore dismissing Harry.

"Thank you Sir. Good night" said Harry as he walked out of Dumbledore's office.

He went straight to the Gryffindor common room where Ron and Hermione were waiting for him.

Harry explained to both of them an edited version of what happened at Dumbledore's office, leaving out the part of the prophecy. Hermione was very excited about the three books which Dumbledore gave him and Ron was happy that Harry didn't have to take any occlumency lessons with that greasy git. Then, he bade both of them good night and went to sleep.

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The next one month passed and so many important things happened in this month. Firstly, Marietta Edgecombe cheated the DA group by reporting to Umbridge. This indirectly resulted in Dumbledore fleeing the castle as the headmaster took the entire blame himself for the organization of DA and pretended as if he was organizing an army to overthrow Fudge. As a result, Umbridge became the headmistress and set up the inquisitional squad who were a group of tyrants who abused their authority. To counter the tyranny of Umbridge and her squad, the Weasley twins and Peeves took the lead in causing havoc throughout the castle with the support of majority of the students as well as the teachers.

Meanwhile, Harry continued reading the three books which Dumbledore had given him and also practiced them in the room of requirement. The removal of Voldemort's taint from his head was an immense relief for him in many ways. No longer did he have nightmares at night. No longer did he feel even a twinge of pain in his scar. No longer did he feel irrationally angry or furious. His temper had considerably improved, much to the relief of his 2 close friends.

There were other unexpected side benefits. Now, he could concentrate better in his classes and his performance dramatically improved, much to the delight of Hermione. After Dumbledore had told him about the prophecy, it had given rise to a determination within Harry to be a better version of himself and he could not do that by being a mediocre student. So, he started putting efforts in his classes. Ron complained that Harry was turning into another Hermione, but Harry ignored him. He was done with being just an ordinary boy.

One day, he was reading the book on Occlumency in his dorms. It was nearing midnight, and he was feeling sleepy. So, he put the book in his bag. While putting the book in his bag, his hand came across a package. When he pulled out that package, he realized that it was the same package which Sirius had given him at the end of the Christmas holidays. Sirius had told him that he could use this to contact his godfather whenever he was in trouble.

Feeling curious, Harry wrapped open the package and saw a mirror, with a note attached to it.

" _Harry, this is a two-way mirror. The other part of this pair is with me. Just say my name and my part will vibrate. Then, we can talk face to face. James and I used this when we were in separate detentions"_

Feeling excited, Harry whispered "Sirius"

Immediately, his godfather's smiling face appeared in the mirror.

"Hi Harry. Why did it take you so long to contact me?" asked Sirius curiously.

"I just opened it now Sirius. But this is just great. Now, we don't have to worry about owls being tampered or things like that" said Harry in an excited voice.

Harry looked around and saw that Dean and Seamus had arrived just then. So, Harry put up a privacy spell around his bed which he had seen in Dumbledore's books before continuing the conversation.

"Harry, how is your occlumency classes going? Is Snivellus giving you any trouble?" asked Sirius in concern.

"No Sirius. In fact, I don't have to do occlumency lessons with Snape anymore. I think the git might be happier about it than me" said Harry and then he went on to explain what had happened in Dumbledore's office. Harry even explained to Sirius about the prophecy thinking that as his godfather, Sirius had a right to know.

"Harry, while I am happy that you no longer have that taint of Voldemort within you, I am not at all happy about this prophecy. Harry, you are a 15 year old under-aged wizard. How can you expect to fight and defeat a Dark Lord with decades of experience over you. What is say is, let us forget about this whole prophecy business, run away from the country and start a new life together, away from dark lords, deatheaters and the ministry. I am fed up of being cooped up in this prison and listening to Molly's hysterical rants and Dumbledore's empty assurances. What the hell has wizarding Britain done for both of us. They have painted you as a delusional lunatic and me as a mass murderer. Let us tell them to fuck themselves and run away from here" said Sirius furiously

"Sirius, I can't do that. I can't leave my friends to fend for themselves. It is true that many people in the wizarding world are a bunch of sheep who adore me one moment and revile me the next moment. But not everyone is like that. There are people who care for me" said Harry, shocked that Sirius would even suggest something like that.

Then, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, his emerald green eyes were glowing with unrestrained energy.

"And Sirius, Voldemort has taken away from me my parents and 10 good years of my childhood. I am not a coward and will not run away from a hypocritical, half-blooded, cowardly Dork Lord with delusions of superiority. I will prepare myself for that final confrontation and fight him with every bit of my magical strength. If I am going down, I will take down him and all the deatheaters along with me. I will not rest in peace until Voldemort and his merry bunch of sycophants are destroyed. Sirius, I am going to stay here and fight Voldemort. Are you going to support me or not?" asked Harry.

Sirius was flabbergasted on hearing Harry. He knew that Harry would not budge anyway. Harry was too much like James in this regard. So, there was only one thing that he could so.

"All right Harry, I will stay here. I will always have your back. Harry, I suggest it would be a good idea if we can have these conversations in the Room of Requirement. I can teach you some spells through this mirror and you can practice them there. I am anyway stuck here. So, I might as well make myself useful in this war effort, through this way" said Sirius and Harry nodded at him.

Then, they talked about some lighter things before Harry cut off the connection.

Harry found Dumbledore's book on spell casting to be useful, but it touched upon only lighter spells. He needed to have knowledge of darker spells to combat Voldemort and his deatheaters, and that he could get only in the restricted section of the library.

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The next day, Harry was on his to the room of requirement after the classes got over. But, he was way laid by someone in Slytherin uniform, who had sharp blue eyes and blonde hair. She had a resting bitch face expression on her face as she looked intently at Harry.

"Potter, can I have a moment of your time please?" said Daphne.

When Harry saw her Slytherin unifiorm, his first instinct was to tell her to piss off, but the girl hadn't done anything to him yet. So, Harry thought it wouldn't do any harm in hearing her out.

"Okay, what do you want Miss…"

"Greengrass. Daphne Greengrass. I am currently in my sixth year. There is an empty classroom there. Can we go there for some time? There is something important that I have to tell you " mentioned Daphne politely.

Harry looked scrutinizingly at the girl. He wondered whether it was any plan on the girl's part to simply embarrass him or something like that. That he would soon find out. But, At least she hadn't sneered at him yet, which was surprising for a Slytherin.

"All right" said Harry and both of them walked towards a nearby classroom. Daphne raised her wand. Harry mirrored her action.

"Calm down Potter. I will not attack you. I was just about to put up some privacy wards" said Daphne, before she started whispering certain incantations.

After she did that, she turned to Harry who was staring at her impassively.

"Potter, I am here to talk about an alliance between both of us, something which can be profitable for both of us" started Daphne.

Harry frowned.

"Alliance? What do you mean by an alliance? And what for?" asked Harry.

Daphne sighed before she started explaining.

"See Harry, the ministry might be full of morons and dumbasses who refuse to acknowledge You Know Who's return, but any person with an ounce of common sense can see the impending signs. The mass breakout from Azkaban, the curious absence of dementors from Hogsmeade are a few of them. And, the fact that the ministry people refuse to give the exact reason for Cedric's death. Morever, that pompous ponce Malfoy keeps on gloating in our common room about he would be the right hand man of You Know Who one day. So, it is obvious that You Know Who might be just biding his time before making his move into the open" explained Daphne.

Harry was glad that she believed his claim and even stifled a laugh when she addressed the ministry people as morons & dumbasses, and Draco as a pompous ponce. However, he was still a bit wary of her. After all, she was a slytherin.

"All right, you are correct. But why do you mean by an alliance with me? I am after all just a 15 year old wizard. What will you gain by allying with me? By the way, I am surprised that you are not calling him the Dark Lord. I thought you Slytherins respect him and his ideals immensely" said Harry causally.

"Oh Please Potter, not every one of us want to follow You Know Who. While I am proud of being a pureblood of a noble and ancient house, and I place immense value on our wizarding traditions, I don't believe that muggleborns and others should be eliminated or tortured. I don't agree with his methods. There are other proper and moral ways to make your point rather than resorting to violence and anarchy. And, I have doubts about You Know Who's heritage. I have never seen his name in any pureblood family tree" said Daphne thoughtfully.

Harry smirked at her and replied "You wouldn't find his name because he is not a pureblood" Daphne's jaws dropped on hearing that. "But that is not my point" continued Harry.

"If you just wanted to ally with me, why all this cloak and dagger stuff of conversing inside an empty classroom with privacy wards all around? Why not just openly support me in front of everyone? And moreever, I am just an ordinary 15 year old wizard. I don't think I will be able to give protection to you, if that is what you are asking. Perhaps, it will be better if you go to Dumbledore. He is the right person for this. Okay, since Dumbledore is not present, you can ask McGonagall or even Snape? After all, Snape favours you people quite a lot" said Harry.

"Potter, if I could have done that, I would not have approached you. But according to the new decree that Umbitch made, teachers are not supposed to discuss non-academic related stuff with students. If I ask McGonagall or Snape, they might fall into trouble if Umbitch finds out.

And Potter, if I openly declare my support for you, I will be slaughtered inside the Slytherin common room. You are the most hated person in the entire Slytherin house, apart from Dumbledore. And, I don't think you are as mediocre as you portray yourself. I have heard rumours about your adventures during last 5 years at Hogwarts. And I think there might be some truth in them" said Daphne as she eyed him intently.

"Miss Greengrass, rumours are carried by haters, spread by fools and accepted by idiots. You shouldn't always put faith in rumours. They can be misleading. If you want to confirm that I am just a mediocre student, just ask your head of house about my performance in his classes. He will tell you his frank opinion" said Harry dismissively.

Then, suddenly without warning, tears started dropping from Greengrass's eyes which startled him completely.

"Please Potter, don't refuse me. All that I am asking is for you to teach me some spells. In case the deatheaters attack our home, I wish to be able to defend myself and my family. I don't want to bow down to that maniac like most of my housemates. Once You Know Who comes out into the open, all members of Slytherin house would be expected to pledge our support for him.

If I refuse to support him, then I have to be able to defend myself and my younger sister even from my own housemates. For that, I require your help. I don't trust my head of house completely. I have heard rumours that he used to be a deatheater during last year and he got off only due to Dumbledore's request.

Please help me out. I will give you whatever you want as payment, no matter if it is money or else a favour or promise to carry out something which you need. Please help me" said Daphne before kneeling down and breaking down into sobs before him.

Seeing her crying like this, Harry felt like an utter bastard for his snobbish attitude towards her, just because she was a Slytherin. Even then, he didn't ever remember her among the people who wore those stupid badges or made fun of him. He had never seen her bullying muggleborns or else in companionship with Malfoy's cronies.

Gently, Harry cupped her head and replied "It's okay Greengrass. Please don't cry. I am willing to help you out, and you don't have to give me any money or do any favour to me for that"

Daphne looked up at Harry and gave him a teary smile. She quickly rubbed her eyes and replied

"Thank you Potter" said Daphne.

"Call me Harry" said Harry with a smile. "Potter makes me feel as if you are scolding me" said Harry.

"Okay Harry. Please call me Daphne" returned Daphne

"Harry, I barely passed my Defence O.W.L exam with an acceptable. That is why, I couldn't take the course for my NEWTs" said Daphne.

"Even if you had taken the course, it would have done you no good, since our dear Umbitch is teaching that class" said Harry

Daphne laughed heartily. Harry just smiled at her. Her laugh was so melodious.

"That is why I want you to teach me everything, starting from the simplest of spells. I heard that you are a very good teacher Harry" she said smiling impishly at him.

"I will try my best" answered Harry as modestly as he could.

For the next 20 minutes, Harry instructed her on how to do an impedimenta hex, and also some other minor jinxes and demonstrated the correct wand movements to her. Finally, she was able to do all of them correctly.

"Thank you so much Harry. You are awesome" said Daphne smiling brightly before she hugged him, much to his shock and slight guilty pleasure.

"You're welcome Daphne. We can do it again tomorrow. Meet me at the seventh floor at 6 in the morning. There is a secret room there where we can practice" said Harry.

"You're talking about Room of Requirement right? I know about that room Harry. Malfoy was gloating about it a few weeks back" she said laughing lightly.

"By the way" she said, opening her bag and pulling out a book, she continued "This is a basic potions manual which contains detailed information about how all the potion ingredients interact with each other, why the ingredients should be added in a specific pattern and so on. Snape gives this copy to every Slytherin right before the first class. That's why the Slytherins usually score better in potions. I think it will be very helpful to you. If you want, you can circulate it to your friends and anyone you know. Just keep my name out of it. Otherwise, my housemates will beat me up" said Daphne.

"Thanks Daphne. See you tomorrow. Bye" said Harry smiling at her.

"Bye Harry" grinned back Daphne, before walking out through the door.


End file.
